"But the season is still long and we certainly are not going to write it off."

However, as things stand this looks to be yet another season in which Hulkenberg won't find himself challenging at the front.

"You just have to be patient sometimes," he added.

"There are many other drivers out there who had to wait long for their time to come."

The German also weighed on his team-mate Esteban Gutierrez trying start to his F1 career. In four races the Mexican has yet to score a point but has already been penalised by the stewards are crashing into Adrian Sutil in China.

Hulkenberg, though, says the rookie racer just needs time.

"Esteban is a rookie and everything is new to him the same way it was for me in 2010 at Williams.